THOSE who used to joke about Willie Duggan being late for his own funeral will not have been surprised to learn that the hearse arrived at St Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny on Thursday almost 20 minutes behind schedule. The man who never adhered to such tedious training ground conventions as warm-ups could be difficult to find as I discovered to my cost one Saturday night in 1977.
Ireland’s No. 8 had been given his marching orders by Scottish referee Norman Sansom immediately after Wales lock Geoff Wheel had been given his just before halftime at Cardiff Arms Park. As part of the ...